10 Demon Slayer characters with the most tragic backstories

Demon Slayer is a show that is filled with extremely strong characters who have dedicated their lives to getting stronger. While the reasons are quite varied and personal, they often stem from life-changing events that have traumatized them.

Contrary to what some fans might have assumed, fleshed out and backstories are not limited to the Demon Slayers, they showcase the pasts of several demons as well.

Here are some of the characters that have extremely tragic backstories in Demon Slayer.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the Demon Slayer manga.

10 backstories that give a complete understanding of their respective characters in Demon Slayer

10) Rui

This character was turned into a demon by Muzan. Upon turning into a demon, he started killing other people which didn’t go unnoticed by his parents. His own parents tried to kill him. However, the demon prevailed and ended up killing his own parents.

Later, the Demon King himself decided to see him and manipulate him into thinking that his parents’ deaths were justified.

9) Gyomei Himejima

The Stone Hashira from Demon Slayer was born blind. He was responsible for taking care of nine orphans. One fateful night, a child stepped outside at night and encountered a demon. The child, in an attempt to save their life, disclosed the location of the children and put the wisteria incense out.

Children ran away from Gyomei despite being asked to stay close to him because they were scared and too young to follow commands. He was able to save only one child, who ended up causing a misunderstanding that led to his imprisonment.

8) Tanjiro Kamado

The protagonist of Demon Slayer is on his way home after selling coal in the neighboring village. When he came home, he saw the corpses of every single member of the family. To make things worse, his sister turned into a demon. Witnessing this took a huge toll on his mental health.

The image of blood being smeared all over the walls and the mutilated corpses was ingrained in Tanjiro's mind. However, Tanjiro was able to overcome these challenges and was eventually able to turn his sister back into a human with the help of Tamayo.

7) Giyu Tomioka

Giyu Tomioka's sister sacrificed her life in order to save him. Giyu tried warning everyone about a demon attack, and everyone thought that he had lost his mind. They sent him away with a relative who happened to be a doctor.

During that journey, he ran away and came close to dying again. He was saved by Sakonji who took him under his wing and taught him Water Breathing. During the Final Selection, he was saved by Sabito who happened to die during the selection process. He had always doubted his abilities and watched his loved ones die.

6) Obanai Iguro

The Snake Hashira was born into a family of thieves who worshiped a demon. He was locked in a wooden cage and was fed so much food that he got sick of it. He couldn't sleep at night since the snake demon was always slithering close to him in the dark. The demon liked Obanai due to his condition of heterochromia. One day the demon mutilated his face in order to match the appearance of the demon.

After many days, he escaped and was close to meeting his end. It was at that time that the Flame Hashira had saved him. The demon killed all of his relatives except for one of his cousins. When he was reunited with his cousin, she blamed Obanai for the death of their family and was told that it would have been better if he was eaten by the demon.

5) Kotoha and Inosuke Hashibira

In Demon Slayer, Inosuke’s mother, Kotoha Hashibira, was abused by her husband and was constantly bullied by her in-laws. To save herself from her husband she ran away and joined a cult whose leader was Douma, Upper Moon Two.

Initially, she didn’t find out the leader’s true identity. Eventually, she realized that he was a demon and was the reason behind the disappearance of the members. She tried to run away from him. She threw Inosuke from a cliff, who then survived and was raised by boars in the mountains. She was later eaten by Douma, who narrated this to Inosuke when he was fighting the Upper Moon Twp along with Kanao.

4) Gyutaro

Gyutaro was quite ugly and everyone treated him like an outcast since beauty was all that mattered in a place like Yoshiwara. People flung stones at him and called him names.

Things changed when his sister was born as she was beautiful and he was proud to be her elder brother. He became a debt collector and one day he found his sister burnt to a crisp after she gouged a Samurai’s eye. The one person who was there for him was charred right in front of his eyes. He killed the Samurai and was then turned into a demon by Doma.

3) Kanao Tsuyuri

Before becoming a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, she was constantly abused by her family. One day she felt that her siblings’ bodies were cold which meant that they had died since they sustained the injuries from constant physical assault.

The constant physical abuse traumatized her and rendered her unable to make decisions for herself. She didn't show emotions and just listened to what was being told to her. She was being sold to another person as his slave. She was tied to a rope and was being walked by the person who owned her.

That day, former Insect Hashira, Kanare Kocho decided to free her and took her to the Butterfly Mansion. She decided to adopt Kanao, who later became an important member of the Demon Slayer Corps.

Kanae noticed that she was unable to make decisions for herself, which is why she gave her a coin and asked her to toss it. This helped Kanao to take a step towards independence and make decisions for herself.

2) Sanemi

The Wind Hashira has one of the saddest backstories in Demon Slayer. His mother had turned into a demon and had killed five of his siblings. He was forced to kill his own mother in an attempt to save his only remaining brother, Genya.

While he succeeded in doing so, his only remaining family called him a murderer for killing his mother. He abandoned his brother and started pursuing demons with a suicidal devotion. He then joined the Demon Slayer Corps and became a Hashira.

1) Akaza

Before he turned into a demon, his father was ill and he had to resort to stealing owing to their financial situation. His father hung himself since Hakuji (Akaza’s name when he was human) had lived a dishonest life.

He finally came across a dojo that took him. The leader, Keizo took him under his wing and taught him Soryu. Hakuji fell in love with Keizo’s daughter, Koyuki, and decided to protect the ones he loved. The rival dojo was simply not good enough to beat either Hakuji or Keizo.

One day, they poisoned the well and it killed Keizo and Koyuki. Hakuji was in a state of pure rage and killed every single member of the rival dojo. Muzan then turned him into a demon.

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Edited by Abu Amjad Khan